US warns of ‘dramatic’ escalation by Iran after Russia ‘receives ballistic missiles’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to travel to the UK on Monday to open the US-UK Strategic Dialogue, “reaffirming our special relationship,, his department has said.

Mr Blinken will discuss collective efforts to support Ukraine in Russia’s war, as well as the Indo-Pacific and the Aukus defence pact, the US State Department said.

Two people died and four were injured as a result of an overnight Russian air strike on Sumy, local officials in the Ukrainian border region have said.

Two children were among the injured, and several residential houses and cars were damaged in the strike, Sumy’s military administration said.

Sumy has been subject to frequent attacks by Russian forces, and has been cited as a reason for Ukraine’s incursion into the neighbouring Russian Kursk region in order to hamper the Russians’ ability to launch such attacks on Sumy.

Ukraine’s air defence units destroyed 15 of 23 attack drones and one guided air missile launched by Russia overnight, Kyiv’s air force has said.

Two of the drones and three other missiles did not reach their targets, the air force said. Those drones likely were intercepted by Ukraine’s electronic warfare systems, it added

Italian premier Giorgia Meloni has pledged unwavering support for Ukraine after a meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky, warning that the conflict cannot be resolved by abandoning Kyiv.

The hard-right prime minister met the Ukrainian leader on the sidelines of the annual TEHA business forum on Lake Como, as Italy prepares to host next year’s conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Ms Meloni told the forum Italy would never backtrack on its support for Ukraine. “It’s a choice that won’t change,” she said, adding that China and India also had a “role to play” in resolving the conflict. “The only thing that cannot happen is to think that the conflict can be solved by abandoning Ukraine.”

The Dossier Centre reported that Ivan, nine, and Vladimir Jr, five, spend most of the year at their father’s vast mansion near Lake Valdai, northwest of Moscow.

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Kyiv has continued to launch its own strikes against Russia. In the Russian border region of Voronezh Saturday, Gov. Aleksandr Gusev said that a drone strike had sparked a fire and the detonation of “explosive objects.”

Writing on social media, he said that a state of emergency had been declared for the region’s Ostrogozhsky district and that several villages had been evacuated.

He did not provide the names of the villages affected and urged followers not to share photos or videos of the fire that could be geolocated.

The heads of the British and American foreign intelligence agencies said on Saturday that Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia is a significant achievement that could change the narrative of the grinding war, as they urged Kyiv’s allies not to be held back by Russian threats of escalation.

Richard Moore, the head of MI6, said Kyiv’s surprise August offensive to seize territory in Russia’s Kursk region was “typically audacious and bold on the part of the Ukrainians, to try and change the game”.

He said the offensive — which Ukraine said has captured about 1,300sq km of Russian territory — had “brought the war home to ordinary Russians”.

Speaking alongside Mr Moore at an unprecedented joint public event in London, CIA Director William Burns said the offensive was a “significant tactical achievement” that had exposed vulnerabilities in the Russian military.

It has yet to be seen whether Ukraine can turn the gains into a long-term advantage.

Iran has denied providing Russia with weapons for its war in Ukraine.

“Iran considers the provision of military assistance to the parties engaged in the conflict — which leads to increased human casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and a distancing from ceasefire negotiations — to be inhumane,” according to a statement from Iran’s mission to the United Nations.

“Thus, not only does Iran abstain from engaging in such actions itself, but it also calls upon other countries to cease the supply of weapons to the sides involved in the conflict.”

“I want to see the clear blue sky that is not raining drones and missiles if I make it out of Russia alive,” says Hardeep Gill*, a 24-year-old Indian man caught in the middle of the first major European conflict since the Second World War, fighting for a country that isn’t his own.

Gill speaks to The Independent from a frontline location in southern Ukraine, talking in Hindi via WhatsApp voice notes for fear of being caught by his Russian superiors.

“I could die any moment. I am in a dangerous place where we are being attacked by drones constantly,” Gill says.

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Russian president Vladimir Putin has claimed that he wants Kamala Harris to win the presidential election because President Joe Biden endorsed her – and because she has an “expressive and infectious laugh”.

On Thursday, during the Eastern Economic Forum, the Russian president claimed that Biden was his “favorite” candidate but that since he dropped out he will now support the new Democratic nominee.

“Our favorite, if you can call it that, was the current president Mr. Biden,” Putin said, with a smirk.

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